Things that go bump in the night

Our next stop after St Nazaire was the pretty island Ile d’Yeu. We have struggled with nice anchorages off the west coast of France because there are so few natural inlets and coves so we have been forced back on marinas. We found just the place to anchor on the south coast of the island but even here the swell snuck round the corner somehow so I lifted the keel and tucked right in close inside a load of moorings for what we hoped would be a good nights sleep far from the madding crowd. We did have a lovely barbecue on the beach where Woody discovered a taste for Stella and pistachio nuts! 

Our quiet night however was not to be. At 3 o’clock we were woken by a gentle ‘thump, thump’ at the back of the boat – I knew that sound , it was the rudders nibbling the rocks! I shot out of bed and sure enough the tide was very low, the wind had changed direction and left us a little too close to the rocky shoreline. Wearing nothing but a quickly donned jumper and a smile I jumped into the dinghy tied conveniently to the back of the boat with the outboard engine on and pulled the boat away from the rocks. There are several things that need doing before the boat can move so Melanie whizzed round getting things ready as I held the boat away from the rocks with the dinghy; ‘nearly there’ she shouted - just as the dinghy engine cut – I was out of petrol. Now we would have to move fast or we would be right back where we started and the tide was still falling. I leapt back on board as Melanie went for the anchor, up it came and we motored out beyond the mooring to resume our nights sleep. Alls well that ends well!

After a good walk on the island we raised the anchor and headed for Ile de Re and La Rochelle. France has suddenly become very Mediterranean here; the water has warmed up to pleasant swimming temperature, we are surrounded by pine trees and crickets and the houses are all white with clay half round tiles. Unfortunately it has also become very, very busy – the whole of France seems to be on holiday here! Marinas are full, beaches are packed and bike paths are like rush hour. We did manage to find a couple of places at this little sea food bar on our bike ride of the island. 

Langustine for lunch and I bought a small bag of oysters for tea!

Wanting to try and escape at least the crowds of yachts by going to a less holiday cruise friendly place we decided to make a big hop to Arachon, 100 miles south of La Rochelle; an easy overnight passage. The Gironde just south of La Rochelle and the gateway to Bordeaux is the last big river on the French Atlantic coast. From there the coast is long and straight with only a couple of harbours before Spain, Arachon being the first so we are now very much on our way to Spain. With a couple of days in each of the two harbours on the way we should be there in about a week. I am excited; it will be different and rather more adventurous than France, it is not a common cruising ground.

Wind has been hard to come by since things turned warm . We waited until about midday before leaving in the hopes of getting a sea breeze but it was a long time coming – look at the surface of the water -I have seldom set out on passage with quite so little wind! 

Although late starting the breeze did pick up in the early afternoon giving us a pleasant sail for the first 40 miles doing 4 knots over a calm sea. Sundowners under the colourful spinnaker on the fore deck as we slipped slowly south – it can be a tough life at sea!

As the sun dropped we were joined by a school of dolphins that played in the bow wave for a while, always a magical moment. The wind dropped with the sun and we had to motor the rest of the way.

Arachons’ claim to fame is Europes largest sand dune at just over 300’ high. We walked easily up the gentle slop of the seaward side but the lee side is steep and apparently skied down! 

Later in the day the hordes descended and it looked just like a sand hill covered in ants!

At last we did find the perfect anchorage behind a long sand island, pretty and, once all the day trippers had left, quiet. A beautiful scene as the day drew to an end, the sand dunes on one sides and the sunset on the other. 

However, you guessed it, even here our perfect anchorage was not to be. We were woken at 6 o’clock by cockle boats literally going in circles round us! We had anchored in a little inlet out of the current and I guess the cockles had picked the inlet for the same reason and the fishermen knew it!

After breakfast we headed ashore with our bikes and left the dinghy tied to the railing of some steps. You would have thought that as it was the top of the beach it was a reasonable assumption that it would also be the top of the tide. A reasonable assumption but wrong as we found out upon our return to find the dinghy rope under several feet of water! Oh well, I was looking forward to a dip anyway and it had to happen sometime – better here than in Scotland! The high tide also meant that getting our gear back into the dinghy was quite a drama with a 2’ swell coming onto what little beach there was but we got everything back to the boat over 3 trips by coming alongside a slipway between rollers, throwing a bike on board and making a run for it!

From Arachon we are bound for Spain with a quick stop at Cap Breton, the only harbour on the final 100 mile stretch to Spain. Late afternoon the mountains of the Spanish Basque country loomed up out of the haze as we pulled into Cap Breton for the night.